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Crunch Day Arrives for Zimbabwe's White Farmers
Wed Aug 7, 6:18 PM ET
HARARE (Reuters) - The clock is ticking for thousands of white Zimbabwean farmers facing a Thursday midnight deadline to leave land they have farmed for generations or defy President Robert Mugabe's government and risk jail.
Reuters
Slideshow: Zimbabwe
Thousands Of White Farmers Forced To Leave
(Reuters Video)
Mugabe has given nearly 3,000 of the country's 4,500 white farmers until the stroke of 12 to hand over their land for occupation by blacks. A farmer who defies an eviction order faces a fine and up to two years in prison.
Mugabe launched his drive to acquire compulsorily white-owned farms for black resettlement two years ago, but this would mark the first mass eviction. It comes as the country -- once the region's breadbasket -- faces severe food shortages.
Analysts say disruption to farming through the state-backed farm invasions has compounded both the food shortages and a severe economic crisis blamed on government mismanagement.
Mugabe -- Zimbabwe's sole ruler since the former Rhodesia gained independence in 1980 -- says his land seizures are meant to right the wrongs of British colonialism, which left 70 percent of the country's best farmland in white hands.
In May, he passed a law giving 2,900 farmers 45 days to wind up operations and another 45 days -- expiring at midnight on August 8 -- to leave their land and make way for black settlers.
Some of the farmers say they will go. Others have vowed to fight the land seizure and eviction orders through the courts.
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), which represents the white farmers, says it supports land redistribution, but is opposed to the system employed by the government.
"It is our genuine desire to see an equitable and just conclusion to the current land reform program, thereby guaranteeing viability for new and existing farmers," CFU president Colin Cloete said on Wednesday.
But a new CFU splinter group is urging farmers to fight on.
"Our position is that people should not give in because we are in a crisis as a country," Justice for Agriculture (JAG) chairman David Connolly told reporters.
The European Union ( news - web sites) and the United States have imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his ruling elite over his land policy and after his controversial re-election as president in March.
Many Western powers say the election was rigged and are backing demands by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for a fresh poll.
Mugabe insists he won fairly, and dismisses calls for a rerun as attempts to impose MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as leader of the southern African country.
*************
If I had to pick, I'd rather bomb this guy out of power than Saddam
Wed Aug 7, 6:18 PM ET
HARARE (Reuters) - The clock is ticking for thousands of white Zimbabwean farmers facing a Thursday midnight deadline to leave land they have farmed for generations or defy President Robert Mugabe's government and risk jail.
Reuters
Slideshow: Zimbabwe
Thousands Of White Farmers Forced To Leave
(Reuters Video)
Mugabe has given nearly 3,000 of the country's 4,500 white farmers until the stroke of 12 to hand over their land for occupation by blacks. A farmer who defies an eviction order faces a fine and up to two years in prison.
Mugabe launched his drive to acquire compulsorily white-owned farms for black resettlement two years ago, but this would mark the first mass eviction. It comes as the country -- once the region's breadbasket -- faces severe food shortages.
Analysts say disruption to farming through the state-backed farm invasions has compounded both the food shortages and a severe economic crisis blamed on government mismanagement.
Mugabe -- Zimbabwe's sole ruler since the former Rhodesia gained independence in 1980 -- says his land seizures are meant to right the wrongs of British colonialism, which left 70 percent of the country's best farmland in white hands.
In May, he passed a law giving 2,900 farmers 45 days to wind up operations and another 45 days -- expiring at midnight on August 8 -- to leave their land and make way for black settlers.
Some of the farmers say they will go. Others have vowed to fight the land seizure and eviction orders through the courts.
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), which represents the white farmers, says it supports land redistribution, but is opposed to the system employed by the government.
"It is our genuine desire to see an equitable and just conclusion to the current land reform program, thereby guaranteeing viability for new and existing farmers," CFU president Colin Cloete said on Wednesday.
But a new CFU splinter group is urging farmers to fight on.
"Our position is that people should not give in because we are in a crisis as a country," Justice for Agriculture (JAG) chairman David Connolly told reporters.
The European Union ( news - web sites) and the United States have imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his ruling elite over his land policy and after his controversial re-election as president in March.
Many Western powers say the election was rigged and are backing demands by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for a fresh poll.
Mugabe insists he won fairly, and dismisses calls for a rerun as attempts to impose MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as leader of the southern African country.
*************
If I had to pick, I'd rather bomb this guy out of power than Saddam
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